New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS): Toll collections on the National Highways has been steadily increasing since the introduction of 'FAStag' electronic toll collection system in 2016, the Parliament was told on Wednesday.

The toll collections were Rs 17,942.14 crore in 2016-17, Rs 21,948.13 crore in 2017-18, Rs 24,396.20 crore in 2018-19, Rs 26, 850.71 crore in 2019-20, and Rs 27,744.15 crore in 2020-21, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

He also said that to implement collection through FASTag, a programme management fee (percentage of electronic toll collection transaction value) of 1.50 per cent, 1.25 per cent, 0.25 per cent, and 1 per cent was approved for issuer bank, acquirer bank, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL), respectively, for the period upto March 31, 2021.

The user fee at the public funded fee plaza is collected by the user fee collection agency selected on the basis of competitive bidding and the amount remitted by the agency under the contract is deposited to the Consolidated Fund of India, Gadkari added.